Who's excited for the Oregon primaries? The truth is no one. No one even
mentioned Oregon until 23 other voting states could not make up their
minds. Easily excited media and bloggers declare that Oregon's voters MAY
have an impact.

But what if Oregon voters can't decide either? And what if the three
other states that have primaries even later than Oregon (Montana, South
Dakota, Puerto Rico) can't choose a clear frontrunner either? What
happens if August rolls around and the Democrats have no true candidate?
That's where superdelegates come in and our votes go out.

Superdelegates differ from ordinary delegates in the sense that they are
free to support any candidate for nomination. They are seated based on
their status as current or former elected party officials or
officeholders. In a race as close as Obama and Clinton's, the ability of
these superdelegates to decide without any backing of actual voters can
turn former party officials into king makers. We have no control over who
they are, or what their qualifications are.

The country is in need of voting reform. It's time to start over.
Perhaps we should steal the voting forms that the Labour Party in the
United Kingdom uses: instant-runoff voting. Here's how it works. If the
candidates are George W. Bush, Al Gore or Ralph Nader, you can rate your
favorite candidate number one, and give your second candidate a number
two. If you don't like a candidate at all, you can leave it blank.

If a majority voted for a candidate, then the winner is chosen.
Otherwise, the candidate with the lowest percentage is eliminated. After
the candidate is eliminated the next vote occurs with the highest ranking
of non-eliminated candidates. In other words, if your number one choice
was eliminated, it would go to your number two pick.

Suddenly multiple parties become more realistic. A Green Party candidate
can run unhindered by complaints of being a "spoiler." And
suddenly everyone's vote counts -- even Oregon's.

Instant-runoff voting can be done via the mail, like Oregon's vote. And
each state could vote for their party's candidates on the same day.
Better yet, primaries wouldn't be necessary and it could give us more
opportunity to learn about the candidates.